Mariners would've been better standing pat on reliever deal

We will take the Mariners at their word, that yesterday's dispatching of opinionated reliever Jeff Nelson, less than one week after he ripped management, was not a spite trade, despite the curious timing.

"This was strictly a baseball decision," CEO Howard Lincoln said by phone from Cleveland. "If the motives were anything else, I'd be the first to be upset. It had nothing to do with anything else but baseball — an attempt on the Mariners' part to improve our team."

Very well, then. Taking away the natural presumption by Mariners Nation that Nelson's trade was the front office's revenge for Nelson's venomous attack, it falls short by their standards: as a baseball trade.

Armando Benitez has a world of talent, of that there is no debate. He throws high-octane heat, and has amassed a statistical catalogue that in many ways is enviable, including an 86.5 percent save percentage in 4½ years with the New York Mets.

And yet statistics don't quite tell the story with Benitez, who has developed a reputation as a head-case, an immature clubhouse presence, a lightning rod of fan animosity, and, most critically, an October disaster.

Indeed, the case can be made that Benitez is one of the worst postseason pitchers in baseball history, with six blown saves in 10 opportunities. The blowups have been spectacular and will surely hang over his head if the Mariners advance to the playoffs.

Mariners general manager Pat Gillick, of all people, should be keenly aware of this aspect of Benitez's resume. Gillick was Baltimore Orioles GM in the 1997 American League Championship Series when Benitez helped cost them a chance at the World Series with two losses and a blown save against Cleveland.

In the critical first game of the 2000 World Series, while with the Mets, Benitez couldn't protect a ninth-inning lead, and the Yankees won the game in the 12th and took the Series in five games.

Nelson, by contrast, is a proven postseason performer, playing a pivotal role in four Yankees championships. In three of those four World Series, he was unscored upon, a span of 10 games. In 47 total postseason appearances, Nelson has a 2.66 earned-run average and has given up four homers in 47-1/3 innings. Benitez has given up seven homers in 30-1/3 innings.

In 2001, his second incarnation with the Mariners, Nelson was unscored upon in five postseason outings, giving up just two hits and striking out eight in 5-1/3 innings.

A change of venue will no doubt be good for Benitez, who had become the Bobby Ayala of New York — guilty until proven innocent. He was booed off the mound in June at Shea Stadium when he walked four in the ninth inning to blow a save against the Yankees; the move across town to the Yankees has done little to improve his reception in his new borough.

Brought in to be the bridge to Mariano Rivera, the Yankees were forced on three occasions to summon Rivera in the eighth inning to bail out Benitez. The Yankees apparently feel that Benitez is having a debilitating effect on Rivera, who had one blown save before his arrival and three in the three weeks after.

Just check out the New York newspapers in recent weeks to get a taste of his reputation there. It sounds suspiciously like any number of past Mariners closers, such as Ayala, Heathcliff Slocumb and Jose Mesa, part of an era that Seattle fans have tried to put behind them.

• "Benitez is not built for big-time responsibility in huge spots. He was made for the Brewers in May ... Benitez is never entering a game of any meaning without everyone — and that includes all those playing behind him — fearing the worst," wrote Joel Sherman in the New York Post on July 27.

• "Mets fans have a million reasons why they despise Armando Benitez — blown saves in big games, a surly demeanor, a knack for allowing devastating home runs," wrote Sam Borden and T.J. Quinn in the New York Daily News on July 17.

Borden and Quinn in the Daily News touched on the enticement of Benitez when they quoted an unnamed teammate saying, "He might have the maturity of a 12-year-old, but he has the arm of Thor."

Yet, it's hard to figure how this trade improves the Mariners. It's been billed as a hedge against concerns over Kazu Sasaki's health, but their acting closer, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, has been doing a great job, with eight saves in eight attempts and a 0.68 overall ERA.

If Benitez is not the closer, is he really an upgrade over Nelson as a setup man, a role against which he has rebelled in the past? His biggest positive, from the Mariners' standpoint, is his history of success against left-handed hitters — a .234 average this year (compared to Nelson's .283) and .190 in his career.

In either role, however, Benitez has not shown himself to be someone to be trusted in the postseason, as Nelson has. And the Mariners have strengthened perhaps their biggest rival for the AL pennant, by sending Nelson to New York.

Also, Nelson, while admittedly abrasive at times, has been a strong veteran presence in the Mariners' clubhouse.

The strength of his presence became clear July 31, when he spouted off about the Mariners' inaction. Nelson got what he asked for — a Mariners' trade — but this is one deal they would have been better off without.

Larry Stone: 206-464-3146 or lstone@seattletimes.com